Taipei City Fire Department

In recent years, Taipei City has experienced the TransAsia Airways Flight 235 accident, Typhoon Soudelor, Dujuan, and Megi, floods, and car accidents on freeways. As the types of hazards have gradually become a lot more diverse, disaster prevention, rescue and risk management must be able to constantly adjust in response to the diversity. In order to improve disaster preparedness, the Taipei City Government will be holding the Disaster Prevention and Rescue Drill this year. The Drill focuses on complex disaster planning, and the exercises are of much bigger scale than before. For the first time, volcanic eruption simulation and evacuation rehearsal, the ROCMC 66th Marine Brigade, and display of the M3 Amphibious Rig are included as part of the Drill. Exercises for floods without warnings, protection of cultural heritages, aerial ladder rescue operation, global and private business supports, and overnight operation of the eleven districts’ temporary emergency shelter, are also available in the upcoming Drill. Through a series of simulations and physical rehearsals to assess the preparedness of various support units, the Taipei City Government aims at getting ready to confront disasters at any time.
 
The Taipei City Fire Department pointed out that this year's Disaster Prevention and Rescue Drill will be held in seven separate sessions with different themes. The first session is exercise for flood disasters and will be taking place on March 15th at the Meiti Riverside Park. In addition to various response mechanisms, the Republic of China Armed Forces will also be dispatching the M3 Amphibious Rig to assist with equipment and supply carriage with pontoon bridge, demonstrating the unlimited possibilities of combining government units with the strength of the national army.
 
The highlight of the Drill is the earthquake/volcanic disaster exercise conducted on March 31st at Fuxinggang, Beitou. It is an integrated exercise based on standard rescue protocol, with the support of the national army, civilian forces, non-profit organizations, other cities and counties, and the search and rescue teams from Tokyo, Yokohama, and Korea. Also, in an attempt to make the exercise as practical and realistic as possible, the Drill for the first time incorporates disaster warning message dissemination. During the exercise, residents of selected districts will be alerted with emergency warnings; there is absolutely no need to panic upon receiving the emergency message. The Drill will also be broadcast live on the Taipei Disaster Prevention Information Network (http://www.eoc.gov.taipei/EOC/).
 
The 2018 Disaster Prevention and Rescue Drill combines the supports from various fire agencies in Taipei City, as well as relevant central government agencies, counties, cities, the national army, search and rescue teams, non-profit organizations, volunteers, the Beitou District, the Zhongshan District, and the Taipei New Horizon Building, etc. The Drill is in accordance with the standard procedures and adopts a compact and comprehensive set of exercises.
 
The current plan for the exercises and the corresponding time are as follows:
 
(1)The exercise for Flood Disasters is organized by the Public Works Department and will be taking place at the Meidi Riverside Park, at 10:30 a.m. on March 15th, 2018.
(2) The exercise for Major Traffic Incidents and Cable Car Accidents is organized by the Department of Transportation and the Taipei Metro, and will be taking place at the paths around the Zoo, at 13:30 p.m. on March 19th, 2018.
(3) The exercise for Cultural Heritage Rescue and Protection is organized by the Department of Cultural Affairs and will be taking place at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, at 14:00 p.m. on March 21st, 2018.
 (4) The exercise for Volcanic Eruption Simulation is organized by the Fire Department and will be taking place at the Emergency Operations Center of Taipei City, at 09:30 a.m. on March 26th, 2018. The exercise is not open for interviews.
(5) The exercise for Earthquake and Volcanic Disaster Rescue is organized by the Fire Department, the Department of Compulsory Military Service, and the Beitou District Office, and will be taking place at the Fu Hsing Kang College, at 13:30 p.m. on March 31st, 2018.
(6) The exercise for Disaster Prevention of Businesses is organized by the Department of Cultural Affairs and will be taking place at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, at 10:30 a.m. on April 13th, 2018.
 (7) The exercise for Flood Disaster without Warnings is organized by the Fire Department and will be taking place between April 14th and April 30th, 2018.